Purpose This paper aims to empirically investigate how structural barriers affect the relationship between total quality management (TQM) practices implementation and organizational performance in service industries. Design/methodology/approach This research hypothesized the moderation effect of structural barriers on the relationship between TQM practices implementation and organizational performance. A questionnaire was adopted to collect data form 153 Egyptian service companies. Moderated regression analysis was used to test the study hypothesis. Findings The empirical analysis suggests that structural barriers partially moderate the relationship between TQM practices implementation and organizational performance. The analysis reveals that the effect of Quality Improvement, Process Improvement, External and Internal Relations and Employee Development – being as TQM dimensions – on performance is moderated by structural barriers. While the results provided insufficient evidence on the moderating effect of structural barriers on the relationship between both Performance Management – being as a TQM dimension – and performance. Research limitations/implications This research presents a new perspective for researches to understand the TQM–Performance relationship in the light of the contingency theory. However, the adopted sampling technique and the small sample size might limit the generalizability of the research findings. Practical implications This study provides useful insights for service organizations about the necessity of developing suitable structural platform for supporting their TQM efforts to boost their performance which, in turn, improves their competitiveness. Originality/value This research proposed and empirically validated how structural barriers play a significant role as moderators to the relationship between TQM implementation and organizational performance within service organizations context.